Walruses and the Walrus Hunt in West and Northwest Greenland : An Interview Survey about the Catch and the Climate

This volume presents the results of an interview survey among Greenland subsistence hunters on walruses and the catch of walruses in West and Northwest Greenland. In these areas, the catch of walruses is still an important part of the traditional subsistence hunting culture. The Greenland walrus hunting grounds have experienced marked environmental changes due to climate change and quotas were introduced for the catch across all of Greenland in 2006. Thus, we wanted to explore how these changes had affected the local communities by interviewing seventy-six experienced walrus hunters living in twenty-two settlements and towns along the ca. 1,700 km coast from Maniitsoq in the south to Siorapaluk in the north. The interviews resulted in a wealth of detailed information about how climate changes and introduction of quotas have affected the walruses and the walrus hunting practice. The main text summarises the broad findings while more details are provided in the individual hunter statements in four appendices.